Our church has a great love for the world around us, not just locally but abroad. The church is comprised with a great population of college students and young families. Many of these have been close friends or teachers of our children and have either gone on mission trips or have felt the call to become full time missionaries. One family, whom we are very close to, has felt the
tug to begin their journey to become missionaries. So when I had the opportunity to view an up close and personal view into the life of a missionary, I thought this would be a perfect way to delve more into what a missionary does and relate it to what will be going on in our lives with this family and others who will be leaving to become missionaries.
The Product:
We received two of five volumes of
Growing Up Wild, a video series which introduces the viewers to life as a missionary in Papua, Indonesia. This area is very mountainous and they live among the Wano people. Although the videos were created for ages 5 - 12, I was totally interested in them, so I'd say these are great for all ages. The title is called such, because the family's last name is Wild. This family is comprised of 4 brothers, mom and dad, as well as a cat and a dog.
Each DVD has 3 episodes which are about 15 minutes in length. There is also an activity guide with a short devotional of sorts with Scripture references. Their goal is to help children draw out a spiritual lesson from each and every episode. Libby Wild, the mom, wants to be sure that the children think globally with the use of the many different activities they have provided. Some of the activities include Venn diagrams to compare contrast, making your own Wano hut, a pencil sketch of a tree in your own neighborhood, make a supply list from your own household needs, and others.
Let me give you a description of the two volumes we were given. On
Volume 1 is
Home Sweet Hut where you will learn all about the Wano huts and how they are built,
Supply Trip where you can see just how important it is to know what you have and what you need and how they get their supplies using a bush plane and a helicopter; and the last episode is called
Sun & Water where they explore the power of the sun using solar panels and find out how they get fresh water from a mountainous stream.
Volume 4 contains
Amazing World Around Us which shows all types of exciting animals and creations that God has made including pythons, spiders and stick bugs;
Adventures in Culture will show how different the Wano people are from our American culture and even shows 2 of the boys getting their nose pierced just like the people they live among and with; the last episode is called
Tribal Calling and it describes how they were led to become missionaries to a tribe in the middle of the jungles of Indonesia.
I can imagine that the other three volumes are just as wonderfully created and will be a great addition to our home. I do plan on purchasing the rest of these since both my children and I are very intrigued by the Wild's. I also think it will help prepare our children for our friends departure when it comes in the next year or so. I also believe that these would be wonderful DVD's to share at a small group, in a children's class or other gathering and allow for deep discussions on mission work. Each DVD is $18.99 plus shipping and handling. But you can get the 5 volume set for $80.99 (a 15% savings) plus shipping and handling. Either type of purchase from
their store will be a great enhancement to the lives of all who view the Wild's in action.
Our Experience:
As soon as we received the videos all of my children were ready to watch. So that night we watched the
first volume in it's entirety. We talked about all that we had seen and I explained that soon our friends would be experiencing a similar change in their lives. That next week we slowed down and watched each episode individually and then tried to complete a few of the activities that went with the episode.
One of their FAVORITE activities was trying to build a Wano hut. However, since where we live is currently under construction, they decided to try to make the huts out of Play Dough. I was not able to get a picture of their huts, but I will tell you that this is a regular asked for activity. Apparently, the first hut wasn't great so they keep thinking of ideas on how to make it stay and turn into the hut, especially with a hole on top so that the smoke can come out from cooking.
Another one of the activities included drawing a sketch of a beautiful tree in our neighborhood. I had the girls do this separately so that they wouldn't influence each other on which tree was most beautiful. This was the activity that went with the Home Sweet Hut episode. Here's a picture of Arianna's choice of tree and then her drawing it and finally one of the finished product.
When we watched the episode where the boys pierced their nose, I prepared them a little. Afterward we discussed how in our culture girls pierce their ears. Since we don't normally pierce our noses it seemed a little weird to them to have this done, but as we discussed that this was part of the Wano culture just as much as their language and their homes, they understood. We then even discussed how our friends, who will be going for a few years as missionaries in Africa, and even as we know one young adult , currently in China for 2 years, also have to adjust their lives to the culture that they will be surrounded by.
Arianna told me that her favorite episode was the one with all the animals. She really loved the Stick Bug. I tried to snap a few pictures of them watching this, but that's a little difficult in our current home due to layout of the couches and TV. ;) Audrie's favorite video was the one called Supply Trip. She thought it was pretty cool to travel to the store via helicopter and plane. ;) However, when I explained that they only went to the store every 3 months, that to her seemed impossible!
My Thoughts:
I believe that these DVD's have been a blessing to our family. I plan on sharing them with other families in our church so that other children can get a birds eye view of how it is to live as a missionary and connect more easily with those in our church family who have chosen this same path. I also hope that this will give my children a more global heart and be open to the call of God to wherever and whatever He calls them too.
Be sure to check out all the other reviews of Growing Up Wild by clicking on the banner below. Also be sure to head on over to their
Jungle Journal where they talk about living in Papau. You can even check out some of the
trailers of these DVD's and the others too.
*** I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2011-2012 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of money for any of my reviews. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences with the products and services that I receive.***
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